Making Winter Training Fun | A Guide for all Athletes
By Matt Spicer
“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”
Shorter days and cooler weather can only mean one thing… it’s that time of year again… when we all start looking forward to next summer!
But, before we blindly leap into another winter of training, I think coaches and athletes alike should take some time to look back at the season that’s just finished and ask ourselves:
What went well and what could we have done better?
What are we going to repeat doing next season, and, if we could do it all again, with the benefit of hindsight, what could we have done differently?
Because, if we’re going to draw up another training plan — or at least the skeleton of one — perhaps we need to change a few things from last year.
As the old saying goes...
"if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got."
I suspect like most coaches; I can look back on a season of highs and lows. But, this year, something hasn’t felt right. Almost like just going through the motions.
This has made me ask some fairly searching questions about what I actually want from athletics.
My conclusion is pretty simple. I think I’ve become stale. I may even have reached the point of burnout.
Perhaps I’ve also become too focused on the things that didn’t happen. The throws that didn’t reach the athlete’s target. It’s very easy for coaches to become emotionally invested in outcomes that are ultimately outside their control.
So, I’ve decided that starting this autumn, I’m going to try a different approach to last.
It’s remarkably simple really.
I want more fun.
That doesn’t mean lowering standards or abandoning ambition. I still want my athletes to improve, compete and achieve their goals. But, I also want them to enjoy being athletes. And I want to enjoy being a coach.
For a start, I want there to be friendly competition between the squad throughout the winter. Every weekend, I want to encourage a simple handicap competition based on training bests.
On top of that, I want some kind of monthly challenge.
With the removal of competition, for most throwers the winter training block can be a very isolated period.
Seven challenges to try...
Rather than simply following the same winter programme and hoping that somehow this year feels different, I’m going to introduce a series of challenges for my group.
Before I reveal the challenges, let me try and explain a little bit of method behind the apparent madness.
The challenges broadly follow the changing emphasis of winter training, from general fitness towards speed and explosiveness as the outdoor season approaches.
September - Steps Challenge
(Equipment required - smartphone)
We have already completed a challenge almost everyone can do, whether you’re a thrower, sprinter, jumper or distance runner.
During our annual month off, I wanted to make sure the athletes are treating it as “active rest”. No hammer throw, but equally, no sitting on their backsides all day!
One of the squad suggested a steps challenge which seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
All the athletes needed to do was download an app (we used Strive) that syncs to their fitness tracker and creates a live group result.
November - Quadrathlon
(Equipment required – shot relevant to age group, stopwatch, 30m measure)
Designed in the 1990’s by Max Jones, the former head of UK Throws, this well-established test is an indicator of power.
Neuff have agreed to make this even more interesting, by turning it into a national competition and inviting coaches to submit their athletes results during this month.
The Quadrathlon combines:
- Overhead shot
- 30m sprint
- Standing long jump
- Three bunny hops
The performances are converted into points.
Full details on how to perform the test can be found on the Brian Mac website: Quadrathlon, where there is also a calculator that converts performances in to points.
This is a great opportunity to establish an early-winter benchmark — and, when we repeat it in April, we’ll hopefully have something much more meaningful than simply saying “we’ve trained hard.” We will be able to quantify improvement.
BENCHMARKS
2019 Yate AC results - Quadrathlon scores
We have contacted Max and he has provided the historic results from some very well-respected international athletes.
Jake Norris didn’t complete the full test, but he has provided a couple of results he did aged 18...
- OHS 16.44m
- 30m Sprint 4.07s
- SLJ 2.98m
Yuri Sedykh also didn’t complete the full test, but is said to have a standing long jump PB of 3.10m, an overhead shot best of 18.00m and a 30m sprint time of 4.0s.
December - "International King/Queen of Sport"
(Equipment – your imagination!)
Christmas is where I abandon any pretence of taking things too seriously.
In 2002, there was a TV programme called IKOS, hosted by Helen Chamberlain that, to this day, has captured my imagination. Apparently, Richard Osman worked on this programme and said he would love to see it rebooted with a big budget.
I’ve run my own interpretation of this show before and it is gloriously ridiculous. Check out my videos on YouTube!
Not every training session needs to have a carefully calculated physiological purpose. Sometimes, “fun” is enough. But, it could be argued that running round a discus circle teaches coordination and fast feet!
January - Vertical (Sargent) Jump
(Equipment - chalk and measure)
January brings us back to something simple and measurable.
The vertical jump is an excellent test of explosive power and requires very little space or equipment. If you’re organised, it can easily be done at the start of any throwing session.
The Brian Mac website provides some interesting information regarding standards for various age groups. Sargent Jump Test
I have also read that Sedykh’s best was 85cm!
February - Hammer Handicap
(Equipment - light hammers and a measure)
In the last couple of years, Winter Throws Competitions have started to appear on the competition calendar.
This coincides well with the annual Chris Preston Hammer Handicap, organised by the Hammer Circle.
Across the country, teams of four are created. Often these teams include some of the very best senior throwers in the country. But, the handicap system is there to try and provide a more even playing surface. Athletes are given the opportunity to throw light hammers, a handicap is applied to the distance.
I would highly recommend hammer throwers take this opportunity to join a national community and take part.
There’s something rather satisfying about an athlete discovering that the person they assumed would win isn’t necessarily going to.
March - Speed Bounce
(Equipment – you could buy the official equipment. Equally you could just make a T-shape out of two lengths of timber!)
By March, we’re already starting to look towards the outdoor season.
For my squad, there will be a slight shift of emphasis from strength to speed.
Speed bounce isn’t just for the SportsHall kids. It provides another simple test, easy to understand and it’s surprisingly competitive.
It's basically competitive plyometrics!
April - repeat Quadrathlon Test
It’s time to see if winter training has paid off.
DISCLAIMER: I wouldn’t worry too much if there is no improvement. You may have just had more energy on the first attempt. But if the test is repeated more often, you should notice an upward points trend.
Fix the environment
None of these challenges are intended to replace proper training. They’re there to punctuate it.
To give athletes something different to look forward to.
To introduce a little competition without pressure.
To give coaches some useful information.
And, perhaps most importantly, to give everyone a reason to smile during the part of the year when it’s dark before you’ve even finished work.
The steps challenge can get us moving.
The Quadrathlon can tell us where we started and where we finished.
The vertical jump can give us simple measures of explosiveness.
The speed bounce is a good plyometric exercise.
The hammer handicap provides hammer competition and the opportunity to throw light weights.
And the International King of Sport? Well… that’s just because sometimes we need to do something ridiculous.
But, I suspect that if athletes are enthusiastic about what they’re doing, competing with their friends, trying things they wouldn’t normally try and occasionally doing something completely daft, I’ll enjoy coaching them more too.
Maybe the answer isn’t always to tell the athlete to work harder.
Maybe sometimes, we need to look at the environment we’ve created around them.
When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
So, this winter I’m going to try changing the environment.
Seven challenges. No pressures.
Just a chance to compete, measure progress, involve other athletes, try something different — and hopefully have a good time doing it.
About Matt Spicer
Matt is an exceptionally devoted hammer coach based in Bristol and widely known amongst Yate AC athletes.
Outside of coaching, Matt competed for Yate AC from 1984-1991 and represented the GB (U20) squad three times. He excelled tremendously in his earlier years, setting a World Best at fourteen with a 7.26kg hammer!
Keen to keep throwers motivated (especially during the off-season), Matt has plenty of challenges to keep athletes entertained throughout the year, all of which are here on the Neuff blog!
Instagram: @mattspicer71
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